Miracle Appliance Parts — Attraction in Thousand Oaks

Have been buying little replacement parts from this shop for years. Great local business that always has just the right part at just the right time. Owner Fred is a wealth of knowledge about all things appliance related. I have long recommended this place for advice and replacement parts, and I have made sent numerous family and friends to Miracle Appliance.

Today I had a very odd experience with the owner however. Long story short, I ended up purchasing a $170 ice maker part that ended up not solving my issue. I explained that after swapping this part into my fridge, the errors persisted and I called a repair company to diagnose and fix. A different fix was required, so the ice maker that I purchased was not needed.

Though there are signs clearly posted in the business and on the receipts stating all sales are final/no returns, I figured that I'd at least ask if something could be done. When I came into the store, Fred immediately started the return process , took my card and provided a receipt without me actually asking to do a return. Great so far, but when he returned from the credit card machine, he chastised me about using him as a spare parts depot to diagnose my problem at his expense. He asked for my receipt, which I had left at home, and when I told him as much, he said I didn't bring it because it has the no returns/refunds language displayed. His typically jovial demeanor changed on a dime and he basically said that he couldn't take a chance selling me any parts in the future because he couldn't risk me trying to return them. When I tried to engage him in a discussion to indicate that if he didn't want to take the return, and and I'd be OK with that, he asked me to leave the store so he could help the next customers in line.

To Fred, the owner: this is crazy! Here are some things you could have done to handle the situation better:

1. Just say no to returns -- You clearly indicate all sales are final, and that's fine, no dispute here. Totally acceptable policy, but if you decide to bend your policy for a given customer, no need for the accusatory argument about being used as a test parts depot. Your comment about me being old enough to know that asking for a return was rude, as was your comment about $170 being significant to you but implying it was not significant to me.

2. Restocking fees may apply -- Though the part I initially purchased was in a box, and had no documentation, plastic wrapping etc. and could easily have been an open-box/returned part, I assumed it was new from the factory. You mentioned that you could no longer sell this part as new, and I get that, but how about you ask for a reasonable restocking fee that allows you resell the part as used without taking a gross margin hit? Take 15 minutes, do a continuity check and get the part back on the shelf. Seems like common sense.

3. You're cut off -- I felt like I was in that Seinfeld episode with the restaurateur that sells soup, you know the one. Basically telling me to leave your store and that you wouldn't sell me any other parts because I might try to return them is outrageous. Having a conversation rather than dismissing me from your store would have gone a long way, and would likely have resulted in me continuing to make purchases from your business and continuing to make recommendations to my network.

I know how hard you work in your store, and your sage advice has saved me countless thousands of dollars in repair costs in the past, but this type of interaction is really unacceptable. In COVID times I've tried to spend my money with local businesses rather than the online retailers, but banning me from your store means more business for Amazon. Would love to continue the discussion if you...

Where do I even begin? I've heard stories about this little hole in the wall store that's packed wall to wall floor to ceiling with parts in no obvious order. Barely enough room to slide sideways down the aisles and this genius of a man who always knows what part you need and where its at. Both my kids are down with the flu, doing non stop loads of laundry (clothes, towels, and bedding) to try and keep my wife and I from getting it and prevent relapse of the kids. The dryer stops drying. My first instinct is look it up online. I do a search for my model and symptom. Everything I read says replace the thermostat, I get the part number and call the only place I know of that should have the part. Fred answers the phone and ever so kindly asks me to hold please. (Not a real "hold", he just set the phone down and finished helping the customer in front of him while I listened on the phone.) He came back to me and asked how he could help. I asked him if he had the part i needed, told him the model number of my dryer and the part number i was needing. Fred's response "Why do you think you need that part?", "What is the issue you are having?". I explain and he says "You don't need that part", "Why don't you remove parts x,y, & z and bring them in to me and I'll test them." "and you better hurry, i close at 1pm". It was about 11:45 so I quickly tore the machine apart and removed every part in the area of the thermostat that I could easily remove (because I couldn't remember the specific parts he told me). I rushed over to the store and found exactly what I've heard about it. I waited for Fred to finish with the customer ahead of me and then it was my turn. He greeted me so incredably kindly and I laid all my parts on the counter. I told him I had just called about the Dryer and I hoped these were all the parts he told me to bring. He confirmed I brought everything. He took out a voltmeter and proceeded to explain to me what value each should show as he tested and showed me each one. There was one part that was slightly off, the rest read the correct readings. He walked back to a shelf and came back with a small bag with two parts in it. He took them out and put a little red marker mark on each. He handed me the bag and said "This is your problem, take these and put them in and if it works you owe me $30". I tried to argue "How about I give you the $30 and if it doesn't work I'll come back." I told him that I couldn't be back before 1pm when he closed. Fred would not have it and told me come back after the weekend then scooted me out the door. I went home installed the parts, put it all back together and low and behold it worked! I will be returning tomorrow (Monday) to pay Fred the $30 I owe him and thank him profusely. I told my wife the story of the nicest, kindest, most customer oriented man I've ever met in my life and I HAD to write this review. Fred is AMAZING,...

I had the chance to meet Fred yesterday, I had an issue with the freezer not getting cold and tried to diagnose it myself willing to spend up to $280 on 2 parts evap fan ($80) and a motherboard($200). New fridge would have cost me $1600. I called in earlier in the day about parts and availability and our conversation was very short. Got off work at 5pm drove home, removed the fan and board in 15min it was 5:35pm and I called and he picked up I told him that I need 2 parts he said come on down, i'll be here. The moment I came in I saw Fred and introduced myself and it was 5:45pm (he closes at 5:30pm) I told him of my problem and he already had the parts in-front of him and began dissecting my old fan and removed the thermostat sensor and began plugging it into the new fan. Being a do-it-yourself kind of guy I figured he just saved me $30 because the evap fan with thermostat was $110 (search from earlier in the day). We began to talk and he saw my motherboard and I told him I needed to get this too since most of the boards online mention to replace this as-well since the fan went out. Anyhow Fred inspects and tells me this board is in good shape and show'd me the resistor and etc that usually go bad. Then he tells me I didn't need to buy the board and spend $200 and said"are you sure" and he says "trust me why spend the money." After almost 45min of talking he tells me his cost on the evap fan and why he didn't sell me the evap fan w/thermostat for $110 and he tells me why it's because your a do-it-yourselfer and he wanted to teach me something. The whole time I thought it's because he didn't have the part but he proved me wrong he did and he showed it to me. I can read people very well and this owner at the end of the day is a straight up old-schooler he's smart and likes to help people, he's honest, he wants to up-hold his great reputation, which I read most of his reviews prior to my visit. Fred could have taken advantage of may situation for financial gain but didn't. I normally would save a buck and buy online for parts but after meeting Fred the knowledge and knowing the type of person and level he is, I can say he is very trust-worthy. This is my first review ever! I will always support Miracle Appliance in Thousand Oaks. Fred's an asset to the community. People don't fix appliances like they used to, people no-a-days would throw out a fridge for a $60 part. I came very close and im glad I didn't. It gave me an opportunity to met Fred........ P.S. last night I was thinking what else could be broken so I could go back to Fred. crazy huh, he really made an impression on...